Safety razor



May 28, 1935. H. L. KENT 2,003,201

SAFETY RAZOR Filed Sept. 26, 1933 flOPCLw 'lNVENTQR ATTORNEY Patented May 28, 1935 UNED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAFETY RAZOR Horace L. Kent, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application September 26, 1933, Serial No. 691,055

4 Claims.

This invention relates to safety razors, and more particularly to safety razors having a power driven element coacting with the blade to enable the shaving to be done dry. The invention also contemplates a safety razor of the type referred to, combined in one instrument with any usual or preferred construction of the safety type adapted for wet shaving.

The razor of my invention embodies a roller having thereon a helical thread which coacts with the razor blade in shaving. I am fully aware that many attempts have been made to provide a practical razor embodying a flexible blade and a roller of the type just mentioned. However, all such constructions have heretofore failed to be practical due to the fact that in shaving, such razors have caught the skin between adjacent turns of the thread. The razor of my invention, however, overcomes this defect of the prior art, chiefly due to the fact that adjacent turns of the roller thread in my construction are suificiently close together and/or the thread is sufiiciently shallow to avoid catching the skin between adjacent turns of the thread. In other words, by making the thread sufilciently shallow or by providing a thread the adjacent turns of which are sufficiently close together, or both, I provide a razor of the type mentioned, which is entirely practical and which provides a very satisfactory dry shave.

The invention will be fully and comprehensively understood from a consideration of the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing which forms part of the application, with the understanding, however, that the improvement is capable of extended application and is not confined to the exact showing of the drawing nor to the precise construction described and, therefore, such changes and modifications may be made therein as do not affect the spirit of theinvention nor exceed the scope thereof as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a safety razor embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an end view.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but with the cap removed and the blade broken away.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side view, partly in section. V

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the ball bearing mounting of the roller which forms part of the razor; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view illustrating the contour of the thread.

Referring to the drawing for a more detailed description thereof, the numeral 1 indicates the razor handle which is interiorly threaded at its distal end and is screwed onto a threaded stem 8 of the cap 9, the threaded or distal end of the handle being tightened against the end of a tubular member ID thru which the stem passes. A guard I2 provided with elongated slots I3 is adjustably mounted, relative to a roller ill, by means of screws M on extensions I5 of. a trough IS. The adjustability of the guard l2 allows the blade to be adjusted relative to the roller as the blade wears. The adjustability of the guard together with the varying pressure which may be put on the blade by the coaction of the cap and the handle screwed thereto, is a novel construction and one which enables the user to keep the blade at a proper pressure on the roller as the blade is worn down by the sharpening action of the thread on the same. The guard I2 has a central oval aperture [2a thru which passes the threaded stem 8 attached to the handle. A twoedged blade I! is held between the guard I2 and the cap 9, said guard having lozenge or diamondshaped processes or raised portions l2b which fit into correspondingly formed apertures Ila in the razor blade to assist in keeping the latter in position. The guard l2 and the corresponding edge of the blade are used in wet shaving.

Within the trough IB is positioned the roller l9,

which is hollow and which has a helical thread Illa which, when the roller is turned toward the corresponding edge of the blade 11, coacts or cooperates with that edge in shaving, enabling the shaving to be performed dry, that is to say, without lather or other beard moistening medium. The provision of a hollow roller is one of the features of my invention, providing as it does a lighter construction which allows for a lighter pressure on the skin during shaving. The thread 59a of the roller should not be too deep, nor adjacent turns thereof be too far apart, otherwise the skin will be caught between adjacent turns of the thread and the efficiency of the razor will be impaired. It has been found by experimentation that the depth of the thread may be approximately of an inch or less, while adjacent turns may be 1 3' of an inch apart, or less. To improve the cutting efliciency of the cooperating razor edge and roller thread, the right hand side of the latter is undercut or cut inwardly to provide a rather sharp edge, as shown in Fig. 6.

The roller 19 has reduced ends which are mounted in ball bearings 20 at the ends l6a. oi. the trough l6 to reduce the friction to a very small quantity, one of said extensions I9b passing thru one of the end walls of the trough and forming a shaft to which is to be attached a flexible shaft run by an electric motor for the purpose of rotating the roller I9 toward one of the cutting edges of the blade I1. The trough is provided adjacent its right hand end with an opening I 6b thru which the finely cut hair is discharged by the action of the roller, this position of the discharge opening allowing the hair to be thrown out in such position that it does not fall upon the operator of the razor.

In order to provide an efllcient razor and one having long life, it is very important that the roller and its bearings be made of rust proof material. The necessity for oiling, which is seldom thought of or done by the owner of the razor, will thereby be avoided. In fact it is very desirable that all parts of the razor with the exception of the blade be made of rust proof material.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A safety razor comprising a body, and a handle, a guard for one edge of said body and disposed on said body and extending to one side of the handle, a flexible blade on said guard, means for holding said blade in position, a roller having a peripheral thread adapted to coact with the other edge of said blade in shaving, a trough in which said roller is mounted, said trough being adapted to catch cut hair and having adjacenterally grooved roller rotatably mounted in the body, a guard disposed on the body in tangential relation to the roller, a blade seated upon the guard in fixed relation thereto, means for adjusting the guard to vary the position of the edge of the blade with respect to the roller tangentially thereof, and clamping means for the blade to flex the latter and vary the position of its cutting edge radially of the roller.

3. A safety razor comprising a body, a roller rotatably mounted in the body, a guard seated upon the body, screws passing through elongated slots in the guard and entering the body, so that the guard may be adjusted tangentially of the roller, a blade seated upon the guard in fixed relation to the latter, a cap engaged with the guard and having a threaded stem passing through the body, and a handle engaging the stem to retain the cap in place.

4. A safety razor comprising a body, a roller rotatably mounted in the body, a guard seated upon the body, screws passing through elongated slots in the guard and entering the body, so that the guard may be adjusted tangentially of the roller, a blade seated upon the guard in fixed relation to the latter, a cap engaged with the guard and having a threaded stem passing through the body, and a handle engaging the stem to retain the cap in place, the guard being formed with raised portions entering correspondingly shaped openings in the blade and the latter being flexible so that its cutting edge may be adjusted radially of the roller by varying the degree of clamping action of the cap.

HORACE L. KENT. 

